![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/BARC-Calvin_Sorting.jpg\")
<\/a>The partnership between Crystal Mountain and BARC began four years ago, when BARC was one of the resort\u2019s contracted service providers. Back then, BARC traveled to the site daily to dispose of waste. Now they have a dedicated on-site team.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrystal Mountain is unique in that they have this micro-economy happening. It\u2019s like its own little city,\u201d Gale says. \u201cThere is not only the skiing and golf, but there is a hotel, restaurants, spa services, gift shops, convention and meeting areas\u2014just so many facets, and each creates their own challenges in terms of what to do with the waste.\u201d<\/p>\n
What began as a consultation and contract to remove daily waste has evolved over the past four years into a strategy for reducing the overall waste impact from such a large enterprise. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been an incremental process,\u201d says Chris Cargill, on-site supervisor for Crystal Mountain\u2019s waste stream management program. \u201cOur first year, we were showing that we could handle the day-to-day volume of such a large business, and from there we have moved forward implementing best practices from our own experiences and within the industry to increase the amount of \u2018no-waste\u2019 business practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo-waste\u201d is a term used when 100 percent of the by-products of conducting business are negated\u2014either returned to their natural state or repurposed for other use. Very few businesses attain the 100 percent no-waste level. Gale estimates that when the partnership between BARC and Crystal Mountain began, the resort was operating at approximately 10 percent no-waste. <\/p>\n \u201cThey had a good foundation to build on,\u201d he says. \u201cPresently they are at about 60 percent, and I think realistically they can go consistently as high as 75 to 80 percent, although I\u2019d love to get them to 90 percent.\u201d <\/p>\n Gale explains that businesses with high client turnover\u2014such as hotels and restaurants\u2014will always struggle to reach 100 percent no-waste. There will always be issues that are difficult to control, like when families bring young children with disposable diapers. But a huge part is education.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, education and training are some of the most important factors,\u201d Cargill says. \u201cHow do we make it as easy as possible to achieve the highest success rate of material recovery?\u201d<\/p>\n Cargill makes note that Crystal Mountain is going green wherever it can, not just for minimizing its waste.<\/p>\n \u201cCrystal Mountain has always been very up front about their initiatives for environmental impact,\u201d Cargill says. \u201cFor example, wherever possible they use environmentally safe cleaning products such as vinegar instead of harsh chemicals, and wherever possible the restaurants use compostable servicewear.\u201d <\/p>\n Cargill is at Crystal Mountain each day, and he has spent good portions of his time there getting to know the facets of each job before making recommendations on how to reduce waste in that particular area. He states that he would not be qualified to offer suggestions to a chef or to kitchen assistants without first having gained an understanding of kitchen operations. <\/p>\n \u201cI do a lot of talking to staff, trying to learn about the details and stressors of each job, and think of ways to work around those,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n For example, the housekeeping staff recently said that if they had access to extra carts while cleaning\u2014one strictly for recycling\u2014they could more easily recycle as they go about their daily routine. <\/p>\n \u201cThe easier we make recycling for both staff and guests\u2014and sometimes that effort is as simple as putting the proper signage in place\u2014the more likely we are to be successful,\u201d Cargill says.<\/p>\n Raising awareness of practical waste management is an ongoing effort for BARC. <\/p>\n \u201cYou have to make this as easy as possible for people, so it becomes second nature. Simple things such as having a recycling bin next to every trash can,\u201d Gale says. With community recycling bins becoming \u201csingle stream\u201d\u2014all materials going into one bin instead of being sorted\u2014the community effort is certainly becoming more user friendly.<\/p>\n Winter skiing is Crystal Mountain\u2019s busiest time, and the season presents its own set of challenges. The large composting field, what Cargill refers to as \u201cthe back 40,\u201d is less easily accessible due to the snow, and the composting process itself slows considerably in cold weather. <\/p>\n \u201cThe focus does not change, but the season can definitely change the pace and way we go about the work,\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n Gale is hopeful that the success of Crystal Mountain\u2019s no-waste effort is scalable for BARC. He would love for the organization to be able to take the same strategies used there to bring the no-waste movement to other resort areas outside the greater Traverse City area. <\/p>\n The no-waste movement continues to grow rapidly, not just in Northern Michigan, but across the United States. Almost no component of everyday life is without the possibility of recycling or repurposing. For instance, BARC has recently become one of the largest recyclers of mattresses in the Midwest. However, electronic waste presents one of the most challenging current recycling opportunities, from both the standpoint of sheer volume\u2014think how many phones and computers are being upgraded every day\u2014to the potential for profit. For a nonprofit like BARC, one of the positive aspects of this challenge is that the very generation producing such heavy electronic consumption is also the one most motivated to find ways to negate the related environmental impact.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes when you are feeling good about being able to process hundreds of cubic yards of waste one day, then turn around and see a much greater amount the next, it can make you wonder if you are making a difference at all,\u201d Gale says. \u201cBut in the end, you have to trust that every single bit makes a difference. All you can really do is fix your own little corner of the world and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n With businesses like Crystal Mountain taking a public stance for no-waste, Northern Michigan residents are certainly doing their part to fix our own little corner of the world. <\/p>\n \u201cThe people here are very aware and connected to their environment,\u201d Gale says. \u201cMost often, all it takes is a gentle nudge in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Successful partnership with Bay Area Recycling for Charities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Crystal Mountain Wastes Not, Wants Not http:\/\/wp.me\/p3TDCr-fv","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,48,41,165,1,44,164,54],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/BARC-Chipping.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3TDCr-fv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":972,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions\/972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a>